by: David Owens
This is not an article against using some modern technology or an electronic tool, but it is an article against the unwise use of them. I’ve noticed more and more Baptists coming to church without their Bibles and therefore not using a Bible during the service. Yes, they have their smartphone, but they do not have “The Book.” Over 110 times the Scriptures refer to themselves as “the book.” When the preacher preached, he used “the book.”
Nehemiah 8:8 says, “So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.”
Luke 4:17 says, “And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,”
Maybe God is telling us something today in 2014. Let’s consider the following thoughts:
1. We call God’s Word, The Bible; “The Bible” means “The Book.” Should we now call it “The app or the gadget?”
2. We say we respect the KJB, but put it on the same level as an app like Fox News, Drudge Report, AccuWeather, the stock market or some game. Where is the fear that we are losing all respect for God’s Word and God’s Book?
3. The same gadget that has your Bible app displays ungodly advertisements and pictures either by accident or on purpose. Would you feel comfortable with pictures of half-dressed women in your Bible?
4. Bible apps make it too easy to access perverted bibles, false versions and liberal commentaries.
5. Consider this excuse, “I can have the Bible with me all the time, for I always have my phone.” God already addressed that. Psalm 119:11 says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” No one has ever not sinned because they have a smartphone with them. Bible apps do not encourage memorization or meditation; in fact, they discourage memorization, for why memorize? The words of God on your smartphone can not replace the words of God in your heart.
6. It becomes too easy to be distracted. While you may have your Bible app open, you also receive notices of texts, updates, your eBay item sold, news and that granny is calling. Doesn’t the Devil provide enough distraction when we read God’s Word why we would make provision for more?
Exodus 24:12 says, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.”
When I was young my mom very wisely did not allow me to bring anything to church except my Bible. No toys in church! No papers to draw and doodle on, no wasting the offering envelopes and playing with the hymn books. When God is talking to you, it is rude to be checking the scores, the news and weather, playing games and responding to text messages. You don’t need to be going online and checking what some liberal commentator says about the subject your pastor is preaching on. It is hard enough to concentrate on truth, so why make it harder on yourself by providing distractions? You don’t need to be distracted by being ready to snap a picture or record a video. When you are reading God’s Word “be there,” when you are listening to preaching, “be there.” God in essence said to Moses, if you will be with me, “be there.”
7. Have you noticed that more and more of God’s people seem to be intimidated by the world and are embarrassed to carry their big old KJB? It seems to be no problem to use your electronic device, for you can now be an undercover Christian. As the world watches you they don’t think you have the Bible on your cellphone; they figure you are playing a game, checking the news or weather, tweeting your thoughts for all the world to know or doing some mobile banking. But, they know who you are and where you stand when you carry and use “The Book!”
8. You say, “It’s more convenient.” Here we go again, “Lord, I can’t live for you unless it is easy, pleasant and I’m never inconvenienced.” How sad that we are so indifferent to the things of God, that unless God entertains us we won’t get involved. Have you noticed that Christians seem to be getting lazier?
9. We somehow believe that if there is an emergency we have to know about it immediately. There is no emergency on Earth that surpasses the emergency of our spiritual needs.
10. What comes next? Prayer apps? A social media site where you can “friend” God, maybe called Godbook? Online church? (Oh, I understand that there’s already an app for that.)
When is an electronic device okay to use? Consider this; if before electronics it was appropriate to use a source outside of The Book, then it is probably okay to use them today even if they are not in book form. Such tools as a concordance, a dictionary a written sermon, Sunday school lessons or study notes, God does not specifically refer to these as being in a book. (I used a concordance app to count how many times God referred to His Words for us as “the book.”)
When you go to church, carry and use The Book, (the Holy Scriptures – your Bible). Put your phone in church mode. TURN IT OFF! Satan has your email address, is your friend on Facebook, has a Twitter account and your phone number on speed dial. He will use it to draw your attention away from the LORD. When you have your family devotions, use the Book. When you do your personal study, open the Book and read the Book. When you go soul winning, use your Soul Winners New Testament.
One day all the lost will stand before God and their life will be displayed. God, being God, could very easily make this record suddenly appear on some invisible screen. Can you imagine the data space needed, the size of the hard drives and the external backups needed to record all of the works of every man? This is not counting the names of every person who ever lived. Open your Bible, the real one, and read Revelation 20:12-15 where God does not even use some electronic storage in the cloud.
“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
If God keeps His records of us in literal books, should we not keep and use His record to us in a literal Book? We are not against technology, inventions or making life easier, but we ought to be against doing those things our way and not God’s way. God describes the Scriptures as “the book.”
David Owens
Pastor
Westside Baptist Church
Pacifica, CA